Re: Letter from Connecticut

Hi Erin,

 

It's been an interesting week.  Kirstin got an infection from nursing the baby so I was up there for a day to rescue her.  She was miserable and had a high fever.  I called the doctor for some antibiotics but by the time Philip came home from school Costco was closed.  I felt really really bad and thought I should of gotten it myself.  So I would wake up in the middle of the night and pray that she was OK.  In the morning her fever was gone and she was doing much better.  So she didn't need the antibiotics. She was glad not to have to spend the money.

 

Then Ammon came down with the stomach flu and was home for three days.  He had a fever and headache so you can imagine how I watched him.  We kept taking his temperature every 15 minutes or so.  But he is fine now.

 

I am not sure about the absentee ballot.  I actually need to get a Utah driver's license in order to vote and I don't know if that is going to happen before the elections.  I don't know what to do in your case...or about the driver's license. They  probably could send our ballot to our new address but the time might be expired by the time they send it by November and we are not down there to vote.  There are a few kinks in this moving thing. Daniel's driver's license actually has Pam and Guy Delouras address on it because we weren't sure where we would end up. I don't think there is much you can do about it right now. I should remind him to get an absentee ballot if he can. I will see if I can find any solutions. 

 

I also checked your bank balance.  It's a good thing I did because there was only $13.00 left on it.  So we put another $200.00 on your ATM card. 

 

Everybody here is having to learn patience.  Rachelle is learning patience with Ammon.  Ammon is learning patience with Rachelle.  And we are having to learn patience with ourselves.  Daniel is the ward bulletine coordinator and says he is doing pretty well cleaning the buildings at 4:00 am. 

 

Dad will be traveling a bit in September and November. 

 

I hope you had a good week.  Jarom and Tayler are still at Grandma/pa Prices while they wait to see if they get a condo that they put a bid on.  It may not happen though.  We will see.  Nathan and Colleen are fine too.  Marisa probably told you she has a date tomorrow.

 

It's time to get Ammon to bed.  I love you mucho!

 

You're doing a terrific job!

 

Love, Mom

 

 

On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 9:03 PM, Rahn and Sue Price <rahnandsue@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey Family,

So glad to hear you are doing well. It's a big joke here about how my family moved to Utah. Everybody is saying things like, "Why would they move to Utah. San Diego is so beautiful. It has the best weather in the world." San Diego to New Yorkens and Connecticutians is like New York to us. But I'm really excited for you all and excited to (one day in the far future) come home to the new Utah place. Change is always exciting.

So first, what I've learned from my studies this week. Patience just doesn't deal with others. Patience deals with the Lord too. We are patient in our lives when we can face challenges and trials without getting angry, frustrated, or anxious. Why is patience such a great thing to have? It makes your life so much more relaxed! You can be sure that the Lord is in control and that you just need to rely on the his timing. Sometimes I used to think that trials came because I was doing something wrong and if I just fixed that one thing my life, everything would be better. But many times we just need to know that the Lord is in control and knows how much we can handle. That if you just work to do our part, being patient with ourselves, that the Lord can handle the rest! Hopefully that made sense. Patience is such a cool thing.

So now the down-low on everything else.

We had Mission Conference yesterday. It was all about temples and the importance of them. Really good. I learned some amazing things, probably not what I will teach investigators, but my understanding of the temple increased. It's funny because just at the times I think that I"m getting this whole missionary thing down, something comes up and I realize how much I don't know! It is sometimes frustrating, but I try to let it motivate me to study more. We also had water games that day for the second half instead of a training. Probably to boost morale and unity. It was really fun and a good break.

Blessing for the week. Maybe you remember Maria and Jairo who we were teaching. Well, they weren't coming to church despite inviting them every week and every week they would say that they would come and then they wouldn't. It was a hard decision, but we decided to stop visiting them for awhile and because they have so many problems going on at home they told us that they would call us when things were better. So for about two weeks we didn't go by, though we left notes here and there.

One night we decided to visit them again, and when we went in it was really awkward. Maria almost seemed mad at us at first. She later asked us why we had stopped coming and to not do that again. Both Maria and Jairo said it was a bad decision to have us stop coming. So we scheduled another appointment with them and extended a baptismal date, which they accepted! It won't be until December though because Maria has to get over an addiction to drugs. But they have that goal and are working for the 6th of December. I don't know if I'll be there for that, but I'm just glad that they are working for that.

Mirian, has been another story. She loves church and she loves the things we teach, but she won't accept a date. She keeps saying that she needs more time. We've extended about three different dates to her and each time she say she needs more time. We finally asked her how long she felt that she needed to which she responded "At least 6 months." 6 months! That is so far away. Our plan is to  teach her everything to be ready, which will be another 3 weeks and then tell her  that she's ready. That we have nothing more to teach. I believe it will shock her and prepare her better for baptism. She's just comfortable where she is at, with us stopping by and learning more. She's another one I just love so much and needs to be baptized. They just don't understand how important it is.

The first presidency has encouraged us to vote this year for elections. I tried looking into absentee ballots before I left, but it was a confusing thing trying to register that early and I wasn't able to figure it out before I left. Do you know what the process would be for me to get an absentee ballot. I don't know how that would work with the move. Am I still registered for California. That's where my driver's license is at.... by the way... do I need to different driver's license because technically I'm  not from the Santee address any more. Please let me know.

So this cycle I'm really focusing on increasing my understanding in spanish. Dad, Nathan, Jarom or any others who have learned a different language. Do you have any suggestions on what helped you during this whole language learning process. Sometimes I think my studying of the language is so scattered that I don't really get anything from it. I thought it might be helpful if you were able to send me some talks in Spanish on a cd. Or any other suggestions would be helpful. I used to think that it would just come. As many people said, "It just takes time." Well, yes, that's true, but I think I can help it along faster with some good suggestions from other people. Please let me know for that as well.

This is becoming an epistle. Sorry, I'll try to cut the other stories shorter. It rained yesterday like none other. Thunder, down-pour, and all. I of course used my handy-dandy rain jacket.

We had a zone activity today. A picnic and I was able to play volleyball again after almost of year of withdrawal. It was lots of fun.

Last Sunday, Sis. Pena and I were in charge of the game for the ward Noche de Hogar (Spanish Family Home Evening). We divided everyone into groups, had them write down three things that would be embarrassing to do and then asked them questions. If they got the question wrong, they had to do the embarrasing thing. If they got it right, they picked another team to do the embarrassing thing. It turned out well. It was a little frustrating though because I would explain something and everyone would be like, "Huh, I don't get it." So then Sis. Pena would explain it saying the exact same thing and everyone was like, "Oh I understand." Maybe I should work on my accent.

We taught a member in our ward the Plan of Salvation to practice and to have her hear the lessons again since she is a fairly recent convert. She started getting into deep doctrine. Like whether they was another way for us instead of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit.

She's funny. She's also redoing her house in the "California style" and keeps asking my opinion. "Does this look good? Does this give a California feel? I want it to be a California eclectic look." I don't even know what a CA eclectic look is. Oh well. We love Mary Kay.

Love you family and am always happy to hear from you. Thanks for the letter Ammon. Glad school is fun. Love you lots. Have a great time.

Love,
Erin

Letter from Connecticut

Hey Family,

So glad to hear you are doing well. It's a big joke here about how my family moved to Utah. Everybody is saying things like, "Why would they move to Utah. San Diego is so beautiful. It has the best weather in the world." San Diego to New Yorkens and Connecticutians is like New York to us. But I'm really excited for you all and excited to (one day in the far future) come home to the new Utah place. Change is always exciting.

So first, what I've learned from my studies this week. Patience just doesn't deal with others. Patience deals with the Lord too. We are patient in our lives when we can face challenges and trials without getting angry, frustrated, or anxious. Why is patience such a great thing to have? It makes your life so much more relaxed! You can be sure that the Lord is in control and that you just need to rely on the his timing. Sometimes I used to think that trials came because I was doing something wrong and if I just fixed that one thing my life, everything would be better. But many times we just need to know that the Lord is in control and knows how much we can handle. That if you just work to do our part, being patient with ourselves, that the Lord can handle the rest! Hopefully that made sense. Patience is such a cool thing.

So now the down-low on everything else.

We had Mission Conference yesterday. It was all about temples and the importance of them. Really good. I learned some amazing things, probably not what I will teach investigators, but my understanding of the temple increased. It's funny because just at the times I think that I"m getting this whole missionary thing down, something comes up and I realize how much I don't know! It is sometimes frustrating, but I try to let it motivate me to study more. We also had water games that day for the second half instead of a training. Probably to boost morale and unity. It was really fun and a good break.

Blessing for the week. Maybe you remember Maria and Jairo who we were teaching. Well, they weren't coming to church despite inviting them every week and every week they would say that they would come and then they wouldn't. It was a hard decision, but we decided to stop visiting them for awhile and because they have so many problems going on at home they told us that they would call us when things were better. So for about two weeks we didn't go by, though we left notes here and there.

One night we decided to visit them again, and when we went in it was really awkward. Maria almost seemed mad at us at first. She later asked us why we had stopped coming and to not do that again. Both Maria and Jairo said it was a bad decision to have us stop coming. So we scheduled another appointment with them and extended a baptismal date, which they accepted! It won't be until December though because Maria has to get over an addiction to drugs. But they have that goal and are working for the 6th of December. I don't know if I'll be there for that, but I'm just glad that they are working for that.

Mirian, has been another story. She loves church and she loves the things we teach, but she won't accept a date. She keeps saying that she needs more time. We've extended about three different dates to her and each time she say she needs more time. We finally asked her how long she felt that she needed to which she responded "At least 6 months." 6 months! That is so far away. Our plan is to  teach her everything to be ready, which will be another 3 weeks and then tell her  that she's ready. That we have nothing more to teach. I believe it will shock her and prepare her better for baptism. She's just comfortable where she is at, with us stopping by and learning more. She's another one I just love so much and needs to be baptized. They just don't understand how important it is.

The first presidency has encouraged us to vote this year for elections. I tried looking into absentee ballots before I left, but it was a confusing thing trying to register that early and I wasn't able to figure it out before I left. Do you know what the process would be for me to get an absentee ballot. I don't know how that would work with the move. Am I still registered for California. That's where my driver's license is at.... by the way... do I need to different driver's license because technically I'm  not from the Santee address any more. Please let me know.

So this cycle I'm really focusing on increasing my understanding in spanish. Dad, Nathan, Jarom or any others who have learned a different language. Do you have any suggestions on what helped you during this whole language learning process. Sometimes I think my studying of the language is so scattered that I don't really get anything from it. I thought it might be helpful if you were able to send me some talks in Spanish on a cd. Or any other suggestions would be helpful. I used to think that it would just come. As many people said, "It just takes time." Well, yes, that's true, but I think I can help it along faster with some good suggestions from other people. Please let me know for that as well.

This is becoming an epistle. Sorry, I'll try to cut the other stories shorter. It rained yesterday like none other. Thunder, down-pour, and all. I of course used my handy-dandy rain jacket.

We had a zone activity today. A picnic and I was able to play volleyball again after almost of year of withdrawal. It was lots of fun.

Last Sunday, Sis. Pena and I were in charge of the game for the ward Noche de Hogar (Spanish Family Home Evening). We divided everyone into groups, had them write down three things that would be embarrassing to do and then asked them questions. If they got the question wrong, they had to do the embarrasing thing. If they got it right, they picked another team to do the embarrassing thing. It turned out well. It was a little frustrating though because I would explain something and everyone would be like, "Huh, I don't get it." So then Sis. Pena would explain it saying the exact same thing and everyone was like, "Oh I understand." Maybe I should work on my accent.

We taught a member in our ward the Plan of Salvation to practice and to have her hear the lessons again since she is a fairly recent convert. She started getting into deep doctrine. Like whether they was another way for us instead of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit.

She's funny. She's also redoing her house in the "California style" and keeps asking my opinion. "Does this look good? Does this give a California feel? I want it to be a California eclectic look." I don't even know what a CA eclectic look is. Oh well. We love Mary Kay.

Love you family and am always happy to hear from you. Thanks for the letter Ammon. Glad school is fun. Love you lots. Have a great time.

Love,
Erin

Oh what fun!

Dear Family,

I wrote down a whole list of things I wanted to tell you about and being like I am sometimes, I left it on the table.... Hopefully I can remember it all.

We did get permission to teach the Muslim lady, but after a few lessons we haven't been able to contact her. We are not sure what happen, but we have a few guesses. One is that she has a Christian cousin that she talks to a lot and when she called us last she said that her cousin told her not to read the Book of Mormon and doesn't think she should learn about Joseph Smith. We are going to try her again today. Hopefully we can get a hold of her.

We recently had to drop all, but one of our investigators. It seems so discouraging at times. The goal for the mission is to get 80 baptisms in September with every companionship baptizing. At this point, Sis. Pena and I are looking for miracles because the person would have to be super prepared, but it could happen! Miracles happen everyday.

We did find a person the other day. Her name is Betsy and she struggles with depression. She was at first really resistant for us to come in, but finally let us in. We'll be following up with her tonight. Also have another appointment on Saturday with another potential named Wendy. I'm really excited for her because when I talked to her on the phone she was already saying things like, "Rules are there to help. That's what I've learned in my life and I don't see why every else has it the opposite way." It will be good.

One of the things I've realized recently is how much I've grown to love the people here. For example, we taught a lesson to this retired man named William about a month ago. After one lesson we werent' able to make contact through phone or visits and the other day I felt like we should go by and see him. So we did and he was home. He was telling us about how it's been there in the back of his mind. The analogy he used was that he was standing there on the diving board, not sure if he is ready to jump in. He believes in the apostasy and see the need for the restoration. He really finds the Book of Mormon interesting as well as Joseph Smith. He just needs to take that leap of faith, and it kills me that he doesn't.

And same for all the other investigators that we have recently stopped visiting because they won't do what needs to be done to prepare for baptism. Maria and Jairo who have eveything to gain from the gospel. Even people we meet on the street I'm starting to feel that love for them too. It's amazing and heart breaking at the same time.

I see people and I think. I want to see you one day in the celestial kingdom. I don't want you to be missing there. How great a reunion it will be to see these people again. The scripture in D&C 18 has taken on greater significance. How great will be your joy if it so be that ye bring one soul unto Christ. And then how much greater will be your joy if you bring even more souls unto Christ. Joy comes from serving others as you desire to see them succeed and able to know that that soul was not lost. I might sound very much like a missionary right now, but that's ok. I love it! Even with all the discouragements. I keep praying that my love with increase even more for these people.

But we do still have Mirian. She hasn't accepted a baptismal date yet, but I don't feel like we should drop her. We are trying to build her faith. She doesn't want to start something she won't finish and she has fears in that. The other day we went to a dinner appointment at the Baltazar family's home and she asked us about tithing! And she was fine with it, which is one lots of people struggle with. She even told us on Sunday that she decided not to go to a Saturday activity at the church, so that she could go on Sunday. She's another one that I just want so badly to be baptized because I want to see her again someday in the Celestial Kingdom.

Oh man. I could go on and on with all the people and yet still trying to get that baptism.

But we had a great Sisters training on Tuesday about baptismal commits and practice extending dates.

Oh, we heart attacked some member's house the other night.... it's so much fun and it never gets old. I'm glad I'm a sister missionary and can do those kinds of things.

Love you lots and hope you are well. Sounds like it. Thanks for keeping in touch so well.

Love,
Erin